Web links
Libraries
and archives
Edinburgh Room, Central Library
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/libraries
The City's own local studies library, with extensive holdings of printed books and topographical material.
Capital Collections website www.capitalcollections.org.uk - Images of Edinburgh from Edinburgh Central Library's unique collection of photographs, engravings and drawings".
Edinburgh City Archives www.edinburgh.gov.uk
The City's own archive, containing the records of the burghs of Edinburgh,
the Canongate and Leith, from the middle ages to the present.
Historical Manuscripts Commission www.hmc.gov.uk/
Now joined with the Public Record Office to form The National Archives:
information on archives and their holdings throughout the UK.
National Archives of Scotland www.nas.gov.uk
Records of Scotland's government before and after the Union, legal and
court records, church records and much more, including rich Edinburgh
holdings.
National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/
Scotland's copyright library and premier research library, including
maps on-line.
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical
Monuments of Scotland www.rcahms.gov.uk/
Information about and images of buildings and archaeological sites;
architectural drawings.
Scottish Archive Network www.scan.org.uk/
Information about Scottish archives and how to use them, linked to:
ScottishDocuments.com www.scottishdocuments.com
Scottish wills and testaments, c.1500-1901, on-line.
For later wills go to the National Archives of Scotland website www.nas.gov.uk
Statistical accounts of Scotland edina.ac.uk/statacc/
On-line versions of the classic accounts of Scotland's parishes, written
by the ministers themselves, including descriptions of Edinburgh in
Statistical Account vol. 6 (1793) and New Statistical Account
vol. 1 (1845) Back to top
Museums and galleries
City of Edinburgh's
Museums and Galleries www.cac.org.uk/
Information on 11 venues, including Museum of Edinburgh (formerly Huntly
House), People's Story, Museum of Childhood and City Art Centre.
National Galleries of Scotland www.natgalscot.ac.uk/
Information on the galleries, which have rich holdings relating to Edinburgh.
National Museums of Scotland www.nms.ac.uk/
Information on the museums, which contain a wealth of artefacts connected
with Edinburgh. Back to top
Local history and amenity societies
Edinburgh local history societies
www.edinburgh.gov.uk/CEC/Recreation/Libraries/Local_Organisations/
Information about local history societies which are concerned with a
district of Edinburgh, eg Leith, Colinton etc.
Scottish Local History Forum www.drymen-history.org.uk/forum.html
Umbrella organisation for local history societies across Scotland.
Cockburn Association www.cockburnassociation.org.uk/
Edinburgh's Civic Trust, a watchdog on current and future developments.
Edinburgh World Heritage Trust www.ewht.org.uk/
Dedicated to preserving the character of Edinburgh's Old Town and the
New Town, which together form the World Heritage Site. For more information
on the Site, visit www.heritage.edinburgh.gov.uk/
Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland
www.ahss.org.uk/
Concerned with the protection, preservation and study of Scotland's
built heritage; publishes a journal, Architectural Heritage.
The One o'clock Gun Association www.1oclockgun.com
The Association's new website is now online.
West Blacket Association www.westblacket.org.uk
The object of the West Blacket Association is to preserve and improve the general amenity of the area comprising The Blacket Conservation Area to the West (and including both sides of) Minto Street, Edinburgh.
Granton History Group
www.grantonhistory.org
A local group that researches records and discusses the history of the Granton area, north of Ferry Road and from Silverknowes to Trinity. Back to top
Family History
General Register Office for Scotland
www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/
Birth, marriage, death and census records for Scotland. Linked to:
ScotlandsPeople www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
The official government source for births, marriages, deaths and census
records for Scotland.
Scots Origins www.scotsorigins.com
Search site for pre-1855 parochial registers held by GROS above.
FamilyRecords www.familyrecords.gov.uk/
A UK-wide site for access to births, marriages, death and census records
in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Scottish Archive Network www.scan.org.uk/index.html
See Libraries and Archives above.
National Archives of Scotland www.nas.gov.uk
See Libraries and Archives above.
National Library of Scotland www.nls.uk/
See Libraries and Archives above.
GENUKI www.genuki.org.uk/
Information about family history resources and research in UK and Ireland.
Scottish National War Memorial www.snwm.org/
Information on Scottish servicemen commemorated in the SNWM.
Scottish Genealogy Databases www.scotsfind.org/
Computer-searchable genealogical databases from old Scottish records. Access to all databases is free. Back
to top
Visiting Edinburgh
VisitScotland www.edinburgh.org
Accommodation and other information for visitors to Edinburgh and beyond.
Capinfo www.edinburgh.gov.uk/
Information about Edinburgh and facilities offered by the City Council.
EdinburghGuide.com www.edinburghguide.com
Information on Edinburgh and its facilities, and links to other sites.
Historic Scotland www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/index.htm
Access to Edinburgh Castle and other Edinburgh monuments in the care
of Historic Scotland.
National Trust for Scotland www.nts.org.uk/
Access to the Georgian House, Gladstone's Land and other places in and
around Edinburgh the care of the National Trust.
Rampant Scotland www.rampantscotland.com/architecture.htm
Includes information about aspects of past and present Edinburgh architecture.
Guide to Scotland's Capital www.edinburgh.org.uk
It has amongst other things some useful notes on the derivation of Edinburgh street names. Back to top
Bibliography
The following very selective list of books may help answer
your questions about Edinburgh's history, and lead you to further discoveries.
Books and guides, both old and new, about Edinburgh's localities and
individual buildings are too numerous to list here. You can find works
published since 1979 by searching Scottish Bibliographies Online with
a keyword, or by author or title if you know them: www.nls.uk/catalogues/resources/index.html
Older works can be found in the National Library of Scotland's
online catalogue, again using a keyword or other details www.nls.uk/catalogues/online/index.html
Many recent books are still in print, while others may
be available through your nearest library, depending on its resources.
If you have not found the answer you want, enquiries concerning
Edinburgh's history can be addressed to the City Library's Edinburgh
Room, Central Library, George IV Bridge, Edinburgh EH1 1EG: edinburgh.room@edinburgh.gov.uk
Book of the
Old Edinburgh Club
The Book has been published by the Club since 1908. It consists
of a substantial body of historical articles and source material about
Edinburgh's history. The original series was published in 35 volumes,
1908 - 1985. A cumulative index to vols I-XX was published as vol. XXI
(1936). Separate indexes can be found in vols. XXII - XXXIII and each
of the parts which make up vols. XXXIV-XXXV.
The new series of the Book began in 1991, and a cumulative
index to vols. 1-5 appeared in vol.5 (2002). Click here
for details. Back to top
General histories
Hugo Arnot, The history of Edinburgh (Edinburgh,
1779)
Robert Chambers, Traditions of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 1825); numerous
subsequent editions.
James Grant, Old and new Edinburgh, 2 vols. (Cassell, London,
1882)
Edinburgh Bookshelf http://www.edinburghbookshelf.org.uk/
A digitised, searchable collection of books and pictures about Edinburgh's history including Old and New Edinburgh by James Grant (6 volumes) and Kay's Originals by John Kay (2 volumes).
Charles McKean, Edinburgh: portrait of a city (Century, London,
1991)
William Maitland, The history of Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 1753)
Allan Massie, Edinburgh (Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1994)
Daniel Wilson, Memorials of Edinburgh in the olden time, 2 vols,
2nd edition (Edinburgh, 1891) Back
to top
History: origins to c.1660
Helen Dingwall, Late seventeenth century Edinburgh:
a demographic study (Scolar, Aldershot, 1994)
Michael Lynch, Edinburgh and the Reformation (John Donald, Edinburgh,
1981) Back to top
History: c.1660-1830
Iain G Brown, Elegance and entertainment in the New
Town of Edinburgh: the Harden drawings (Rutland, Edinburgh, 1995)
Mary Cosh, Edinburgh: the golden age (John Donald, Edinburgh,
2003)
Kitty Cruft and Andrew Fraser, eds., James Craig, 1744-1795, 'The
Ingenious Architect of the New Town of Edinburgh' (Mercat, Edinburgh,
1995)
David Daiches, Peter and Jean Jones, eds., A Hotbed of Genius: the
Scottish enlightenment, 1730-1790 2nd edn (Saltire Society, Edinburgh,
1996)
Rab Houston, Social change in the age of enlightenment: Edinburgh,
1660-1760 (Oxford UP, Oxford, 1994)
Leah Leneman, Sin in the city: sexuality and social control in urban
Scotland, 1660-1780 (Scottish Cultural Press, Edinburgh, 1998)
Ian Lindsay, Georgian Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 1948)
A J Youngson, The making of classical Edinburgh (Edinburgh UP,
Edinburgh, 1970). Back to top
History: 1830 to the present
Robert Q Gray, The labour aristocracy of Victorian
Edinburgh (Oxford UP, Oxford, 1976)
Richard Rodger, The transformation of Edinburgh: land, property and
trust in the nineteenth century (Cambridge UP, Cambridge, 2001)
Back to top
Buildings and topography
Elizabeth Berry, The writing on the walls (Cockburn
Association, Edinburgh, 1990)
J F Birrell, An Edinburgh alphabet (James Thin, Edinburgh, 1980)
John Gifford, Colin McWilliam and David Walker, Edinburgh (Penguin
Books, Harmondsworth, 1984). Buildings of Scotland series, now published
by Yale UP.
F H Groome, ed. Ordnance gazetteer of Scotland vol. 2 (Edinburgh,
1885)
Stuart Harris, The place names of Edinburgh: their origin and history
2nd edition (London, 2002)
Charles McKean, Edinburgh: an illustrated architectural guide
(Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, Edinburgh, 1992).
Andrew A McMillan, Richard J Gillanders and John A Fairhurst, Building
stones of Edinburgh, 2nd edn (Edinburgh Geological Society, Edinburgh,
1999)
David Patterson and Joe Rock, Thomas Begbie's Edinburgh: a mid-Victorian
portrait (John Donald, Edinburgh, 1992)
Richard Rodger, Housing the people: the colonies of Edinburgh
(Edinburgh, 1999)
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland,
An inventory of the ancient and historical monuments of the city
of Edinburgh (HMSO, 1951)
The early views and maps of Edinburgh (Royal Scottish Geographical
Society, Edinburgh, 1919) Back
to top
Church history
A Ian Dunlop, The Kirks of Edinburgh; the Congregations,
Churches & Ministers of the Presbytery of Edinburgh 1560 - 1984
(Scottish Record Society, 1988)
Cultural life
Donald Campbell, Playing for Scotland: a history of
the Scottish stage, 1715-1965 (Mercat, Edinburgh, 1996)
Owen Dudley Edwards and G Richardson, Edinburgh: a literary anthology
(Canongate, Edinburgh, 1983)
Andrew Lownie, The Edinburgh Literary Companion (Birlinn, 2006), replacing his The literary companion to Edinburgh (Methuen, London, 2000); which was a revised version of The Edinburgh literary guide (1992), including maps.
Auld Reekie: An Edinburgh Anthology, selected and edited by Ralph Lownie (Timewell, 2004)Back
to top
Education
Andrew G Fraser, The Building of Old College: Adam, Playfair and the University of Edinburgh, (Edinburgh University Press, 1989)
J Harrison, The Company of Merchants of the City of
Edinburgh and its schools, 1694-1920 (Edinburgh, 1920)
Walter Stephen, Fabric and function: a century of school building
in Edinburgh, 1872-1972 (privately published, Edinburgh, 1996) Back
to top
Economic
life: commerce and industry
A Heron, The Merchant Company of Edinburgh: its rise
and progress (Edinburgh, 1903)
Elizabeth Sanderson, Women and work in eighteenth century Edinburgh
Macmillan, London, 1996)
Richard Saville, The Bank of Scotland: a history, 1695-1995 (Edinburgh
UP, Edinburgh, 1996) Back to
top
Family History
Many lists of apprentices and burgesses, and persons marrying
and dying in Edinburgh have been published, chiefly by the Scottish
Record Society. The titles of these and other printed sources can be
looked up online in the National Library of Scotland's 'Scottish History
in Print': www.nls.uk/print/index.html
Publications after 1985 can be found in the NLS's Scottish Bibliographies
Online: www.nls.uk/catalogues/resources/index.html
For wills of Edinburgh folk up to 1901, go to ScottishDocuments.com
website www.scottishdocuments.com.
For later wills go to the National Archives of Scotland website www.nas.gov.uk
Other miscellaneous lists of Edinburgh's past inhabitants
are listed here:
James Gilhooley, A directory of Edinburgh in 1752 (Edinburgh
UP, Edinburgh, 1988)
Anon., Lord Provosts of Edinburgh, 1296-1932 (Edinburgh, 1932)
Ann Mitchell, 'No more corncraiks': Lord Moray's feuars in Edinburgh's
New Town (Scottish Cultural Press, Edinburgh, 1998) Back
to top
Law
The Stair Society publications include a wealth of historical
material and articles about Edinburgh's legal history. Lists of Stair
publications up to 1985 can be found in in the National Library of Scotland's
'Scottish History in Print': www.nls.uk/print/index.html,
and after 1985 in Scottish Bibliographies Online: www.nls.uk/catalogues/resources/index.html
Back to top
Medicine
W S Craig, History of the Royal College of Physicians
of Edinburgh (London, 1976)
Helen Dingwall, Physicians, surgeons and apothecaries: medicine in
seventeenth-century Edinburgh (Tuckwell, East Linton, 1995)
James Gray, The Edinburgh City Hospital (Tuckwell, East Linton,
1999)
Reginald Passmore, Fellows of Edinburgh's College of Physicians during
the Scottish enlightenment (Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,
Edinburgh, 2001)
Lisa Rosner, Medical education in the age of improvement: Edinburgh
students and apprentices, 1760-1826 (Edinburgh UP, Edinburgh, 1991)
Bill Yule, Matrons, medics and maladies: inside the Royal Infirmary
in the 1840s (Tuckwell, East Linton, 1999) Back
to top
Primary sources
Charters and documents relating to Edinburgh AD 1143-1540
(Scottish Burgh Records Society, Edinburgh, 1871)
Marguerite Wood, ed., Court book of the regality of Broughton and
burgh of Canongate, 1569-1573 (privately printed, Edinburgh, 1937)
Extracts from the records of the burgh of Edinburgh, 1403-1718
12 vols. (Scottish Burgh Records Society, Edinburgh, 1869-1967)
James Gilhooley, ed., The Edinburgh recorder: spotlight on the personalities,
properties, and their fire insurance policies from 1720 to 1840
(privately printed, Edinburgh, 1990)
Hugh M Milne, ed., Boswell's Edinburgh, 1767-1786 (Mercat, Edinburgh,
2001)
Sir John Sinclair, ed., Statistical account of Scotland vol.
6 (1793), reprinted in vol. II (1975). For online version go to edina.ac.uk/statacc/
New statistical account of Scotland vol. I (1845). For online
version go to edina.ac.uk/statacc/
David Keir, ed., Third statistical account of Scotland (Edinburgh,
1966)
Edward Topham, Letters from Edinburgh; written in the years 1774
and 1775 (Mercat, Edinburgh, 1971); first published, London, 1776
For further printed primary sources go to the National
Library's 'Scottish History in Print': www.nls.uk/print/index.html
Back to top
Transport
D L G Hunter, Edinburgh's transport: volume 1, the
early years, reprint edition (Mercat, Edinburgh, 1992)
D L G Hunter, Edinburgh's transport: volume 2: the Corporation years
(Adam Gordon, Chetwode, 1999?) Back
to top
